Child s carriage



(No Model.)

:GLR PEABE I GHILWS CARRIAGE. No. 292 174. 1 Patented Jan. 22, 1 4.

-afttorne\' N PETERS. PiwlaLflhognpher. Washington. In;

" i5rnn STATES enonen R, PEARE, or IRENE-MASSACHUSETTS.

VCH LD"S CARRIAGE.

SPECIFICATIQN- forming part of Letters Patent No. 292,174, dated January 22, 1884. Application filed February 1883. .(1\'o model.) 7

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE R. PEARE, of Lynn, in the State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Carriages, of which the following'is a specification.

My invention has relation to carriages, such as childrens perambulators and the like, which are propelled by hand, and is designed to furnish a simple and efficient automatic wheel-lockfor the purpose of holding the carriage at rest when left by the attendant.

I am aware that automatic brakes or looks have before been employed for a like purpose, (sec, for example, the brake mechanism shown and described in my Letters Patent of September 19, 1882, No. 264,415,) and I consequently do not herc'broadly claim this feature.

My present contrivance is mainly characterized by the combination, with a non-rotating locking collar or sleeve mounted and adapted to slide on the axle, and normally held up against and in engagement with the hub of the wheel by spring-pressure, of .mechanism operated from the propeller-handle of the carriage when the same is gripped by the attendant to move said locking-collar against the stress of its spring, so as to hold it out of engagement with the wheel. In practice I use two of these collars, one for each wheel, and so arrange them that both are operated simultaneously and together by the same mechanism. v

V The preferred operating mechanism used by me consists of a shaft extending from the hand-barof the propeller-handle to the axle,

and supported in bearings at both of these points, so as to be capable of rotary movement; and it is also capable of asliding or lengthwise movement in its lower or axle bearing, so as to accommodate itself to the varying positions of the cross-bar due to the springiness of the bar-supporting stemsor handles, I

Mounted upon the shaft so as to turn with it is a cam or its equivalent, which engages the contiguous ends of arms projecting one from each locking-collar, and operates to draw the arms in a direction oppositeto that in which they are moved by the spring, which tends to keep the collarsengaged with the hubs.

A- lever-handle on the upper end of the shaft and in convenient 'proxi mity to the hand- 5 5 bar serves to turn the shaft sufficiently to cause it to unlock the wheels. This lever is gripped by the attendant in taking hold of the hand- 7 bar, and it is held in position to maintain the wheels-unlocked so long as the attendant continues to grip the hand-bar. When, however, the hand-bar is let go,'the lever is released and the collar-controlling spring at once asserts itself, and by its reaction forces the collars into engagement with the wheels.'

The mechanism is cheap, simple, effective, and readily applied, and does not add appreciably to the bulk or weight of the carriage.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use the invention, I proceed to describe the same by reference to the accompanying drawings, which represent it in its preferred form.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a childs carriage provided with my improvement, one of 7 cam. Fig. 3 is a plan of the rear axle and.

parts carried by it. Fig. 4is an enlarged elevation of the inner overlapping ends of the collar-arms, one of said ends being broken away so as toshow the 'cam in the position which it occupies between them. Fig. '6 is an enlarged sectional elevation of a modification, to be hereinafter described. Fig. 7 is an enlargedview of the lower or axle bearing of the unlocking-shaft, showing also the shaft without the cam.

The carriage is of usual construction. B is the rear axle, of rectangular form in cross-section. Dare thehubs of thehind wheels. Nare the handles, and A is the hand bar. Upon the Fig. 5 is a plan, and 35 hand-bar, at someconvenient point, (which in 5 this case is about midway betw een its two ends,

is a small bearing, J, supporting the upper end of alight rod or shaft, G, which'is the rotary unlocking-shaft hereinbefore referred to. Upon the, shaft, and between the forked arms of bear- 10o is gripped by the attendant, and thus turns or partially rotates the shaft. The lower end of the shaft G is square in cross-section, and works freely in a bearing, M, whichis attached firmly to the axle B, as indicated in Fig. 7. The shaft can both rotate and slide lengthwise in this hearing, this being necessary in View of the springiness of the handle which carries the shaft. The bearing M is forked, as shown, in order to obtain between its upper and lower arms a' recess or pocket to receive the leafcam I. This cam fits'loosely on the squared part of the shaft G in the recess or pocket in hearing M, and is revolved by the shaft, although the latter can move lengthwise independently of it.

On the axle B are two sliding collars or sleeves, G 0, provided on their faces, which adjoin the hubs D, with notches or teeth, as shown in Fig. 3, which are designed to engage pins 9, one of which projects from each hub. From each collar there extends inwardly toward the center bearing, M, an arm or extension, 0 G The inner ends of these arms, which pass by and overlap one another, enter the recess or pocket between the two arms of the forked bearing M, and lie one on each side or end of the cam P. Each arm has a slot, j, of a size to permit it to receive the shaft G, but not large enough to receive the cylindrical hub of the cam, whose shape is shown clearly in Fig. 2.

Upon the interior opposite faces of the ends 0 O are projections (i, one above and one be low, with space enough between them to receive the cylindrical hub of the cam. These proj eetions, which form shoulders or abutment-s against which the cam may work, are thus brought into the path of the leaves. f f of the cam which are set in different planes and are intended to operate, the one upon one arm and the other. upon the other arm. Under this arrangement it will be'seen that-when the cam is rotated from the position shown in Fig. 4, (which is its normal position,) it'will act to draw the arms inwardly in opposite directions, and consequently to draw back'the lockingcollar from the hubs D. It will alsobeseen that this result is obtained by rotating the cam in either direction,so that the attendant can'unloek the wheels bypressing down the lever-handle H either to the right or left, as may be found convenient.

Upon the ends 0 O" are hooks or fingers 6, between which is stretched the spring a, which acts to pull the arms in a direction in which they will cause the collars to engage the hubs.

The manner in which the devices co-operate has been sufficiently indicated in the foregoing description and requires no further explanation.

The modification represented in Figs. 5 and 6 is one in which a crank device is substituted for the cam. In this modification the shaft G (whose lower end need not'be squared) is supported so that it may both rotate and slide in axle-bearing L, which takes the place of bearing M.

Upon the lower end of the shaft is fixed a hub or drum, F, provided with two diametricallyopposite peripheral recesses, K, in which are pivoted or pinned, in one the wire arm 0 and in the other the wire arm G said pins or pivots serving as crank-pins. By pressing the lever-handle H the shaft G, and conse quently the crank-drum, will be turned in a direction to draw the locking-collars out of engagement with the hubs. The collars are moved in opposite direction by spring a, one of which is attached to each arm in the manner indicated in Fig. 6that is to say, it engages at one end an eye, '5, on the arm, and at the other end is attached to a radial extension, h, of the drum.

Having described my improvement, I desire to be understood that I do not restrict my claim to the specific construction and arrangement of the instrumentalities hereinbefore described; but

Vfhat I claim as new and of my invention, 1s

1. The combination, with the wheels and their supporting-axle, of non-rotating lockingcollars mounted and adapted to slide on said axle, a spring or springs for holding them in engagement with said wheels, and a sliding and rotating unlocking-shaft connected to the propeller-handle on the one hand and to said locking-collars on the other hand, and arranged and adapted to be operated from the propeller-handle to move said collars against the stress of their controlling spring or springs, substantially as and for the purposes herein before setforth.

2. The combination, with the propeller handle and axle and its wheels, of the bearings, one on'the propeller-handle and one on the axle, the rotatable unlocking shaft carried thereby, and arranged so as to be capable of not only rotating but also sliding in its lower bearing, and spring-controlled wheel-locking mechanism connected to and adapted to be operated by said shaft, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

3. The combinatiomwith the propeller-handle, the axle, and the wheels, of the pivoted unlocking lever-handle, the unlocking-shaft capable of sliding movement, and arranged and adapted to be rotated by said lever-handle, and automatic spring-controlled wheellocking mechanism connected to and operated by said rotary shaft, substantially in the manner set forth, so that a movement of the leverhandle in either direction from its central position will cause the release of the wheels from the control of the locking mechanism.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 6th day of February, 1883.

GEO. R. PEARE. \Vitnesses:

M. W. BURDETT, F. H. PARKHURsT. 

